The Business Adept Cards system is new and has yet to build its reputation. However, the Corporate Signpost Toolkit which powers BA has proved its worth in many different circumstances and many different organisations – in large and small businesses in a variety of industries; in business coaching, counselling, mentoring and consulting; in education (tertiary colleges, universities, adult education, business colleges); and in non-profit organisations. It has been used successfully by individuals, in one-to-ones, and in groups.
The following testimonials include some for the website and others for the physical toolkit.
Please let us know your thoughts about your experience of the system.
“I am writing to express my thanks for our insight session using the Business Adept Cards website.
A previous SWOT analysis for my new business venture had been very helpful and I had gained clear insights into each of the SWOT areas.
Reviewing the situation using a SWOT analysis to identify the four critical success factors for my business gave a different perspective. It confirmed that I was on the right track.
This is an important feature of the system - that it can provide a confirmation and give confidence in what we are doing as small business owners. Only having yourself to ask is sometimes limiting!
A final question used a single card to indicate whether anything significant had been overlooked. It highlighted something which had been considered but put to one side. This aspect has now been included in my plan and will be addressed in good time, without risk of being overlooked.
Thank you for the Insight Session - it certainly did give me a valuable Insight.
Elaine Copeland, Health and Wellbeing Consultant
"I was interested in trying out the Business Adept cards to see how much application they might have for someone like me, who has worked in the public sector for their whole career and is approaching retirement but wants to stay active and move into a new field of work. I wanted to test out the question of how do I even begin to identify alternative career possibilities and how do I make it real and not just a fantasy. The session was great fun but also very valuable as the cards were sometimes uncanny in reflecting my current environment. Other cards, which seemed irrelevant at first, changed after Laura helped me approach them in a different way and analyse possible meanings and application. I came away with the beginnings of a practical plan in determining future possibilities and the steps I would need to take to translate those into reality.
I'd recommend a session with the cards to anyone who's been struggling with a particular business/career problem or someone like me who has a general issue about career change and development and needs to acquire insight into how to effect change.”
Claire Dubar, NHS Manager
Claire Dubar, NHS Manager
"When I met Laura and she took me through how corporate signpost worked I was sceptical until we’d been through the session. What I found was there was a lot of conversation points and it was great in getting you to think about your business more from an outside view.
Since going through the session I’ve made changes to my business that have improved my profitability greatly.
Thanks to corporate signpost I feel that I can use the cards to my advantage to help with those difficult to answer questions."
Paul Goldsmith, Goldstar IT Consultancy
“I recently undertook a Business Insight session using the Corporate Signpost Toolkit and found it to be a really illuminating experience. It helped me step back and look at my emerging business in a uniquely creative way; helped me clarify my thinking and encouraged me to consider ways to strategically plan and monitor my business performance, and recognise and reward progress to enable sustainable results. I would not hesitate to recommend this process to other small business owners who are looking to expand their creative thinking around their business processes.”
Hilary Lees, Career & Leadership Coach
“I was a little unsure what I was letting myself into, but I was open to any insight into my business at the time of trying the Corporate Signpost Toolkit. The actual process made me realise that I had actually made great strides in my business in deciding what I didn't want to do and the direction that was most appropriate for me. This was quite a pleasant surprise as at the time I was feeling that I was at a crossroad, but in reality, I had become more focused. It also highlighted areas of weakness that I would need to focus on more.
The Toolkit provided a platform to assess the direction of my business from an outsider’s perspective, without judgement. I would recommend using it if you are looking for guidance in the direction of your business and you are open to a unique and different approach.”
Lindsay Taylor, Complimentary Therapist
“I recently had a session with Laura of Business Adept using her intuitive card set. I didn’t really know what to expect or even if it would help at all. I wear several business hats as many females do and occasionally struggle with the balance. I was having a particular struggle with a direction in which to take one of my businesses and whether not to specialise in it.
So we sat down with the cards to see what we could surmise. I found the session immensely helpful, I completely understood how the cards could mean something different to each business and Laura helped me find the sense in the cards using both her business skills and her intuition, it was fascinating….. as it was ultimately me who did the reading… I extracted what was relevant to me from what I saw…. I think we often know the answers to our problems subconsciously and this clever system helps us to delve in and unravel the knots that can form and cause confusion.
I would highly recommend anybody in business use this system, I think it would be excellent for inspiration sessions, to brainstorm, to find new directions and to help find the solutions to business problems and every day sticking points.”
Alison Mathias, Business Development Manager, Compio IT www.compio.co.uk
“The Corporate Signpost cards were amazingly accurate in many ways. I was astounded, as I was having an issue with a particular area and the cards did highlight this quite strongly - very interesting. I have to admit, having had this experience, I did hold a staff appraisal on the Friday after my card reading and I did change the way I handled that appraisal due to the readings from the cards. It was really interesting how the cards changed my approach and how positively the recipient responded to that change of approach. So all I can say is it really does work! Amazingly.
Since the insight session I have inputted a few changes more operational than anything else and it did highlight to me an area that I needed to concentrated on - to be honest I did know it but the cards just enhanced it for me and now I have actually actioned this and things are now in place to enhance how we do things even more.
I was actually really quite surprised how my reading went and I would recommend anyone who is running their own business to have an insight session using Corporate Signpost because the cards do bring out areas that we, as business people, hide away from - things we need to confront rather than ignore.
A great experience and one that I would highly recommend other business owners to do.“
Lesley Roberts, Managing Director, Talkmarketing Limited
"I recently spent a couple of very interesting hours with Laura Dziaszyk being led through an insight session using the Corporate Signpost Business Adept Cards to look at my business and to give me some clarity on the areas I should be focusing on in order to move my business forward. Who knew how incredibly clever these little cards are? It was a bit like being given a tarot card session for my business! The cards are beautifully designed and each one holds a special meaning. They range from business, project or career and demonstrate the ten main stages of activity in business within the core headings of Strategy, Structure, Delivery and Performance. The cards I selected told me that I needed to focus on the two main areas of Strategy and Delivery and guess what? I went away and redid my own SWOT analysis and looked at the way I was delivering my services. This led me to creating a product splintered package that I have called BOOST and since creating this my business has boomed! I can only put this down to the foresight I gleaned in my session with Laura. It doesn't matter if you're a BIG business or a small business; these cards can definitely give you a deeper insight into what you may need to be doing different! Go on...I dare you.”
Liz Wright, WrightIdeas4U and all areas of your business, www.wrightideas4u.com
“This morning I had a session with Laura Dziaszyk from Spotlight on Management. I had a question about a business development and wanted to ask Laura, as a Business Analyst, for her guidance. Shortly into the session Laura gave me a couple of recommendations based on her initial observations from the brief description of the issue, which was both extremely helpful and a great observation. Then Laura suggested we run a SWOT analysis. Most people in business will be familiar with a SWOT analysis but I assure you they probably haven't experienced it the way Laura does it. She uses her undoubted business skills, alongside ’Corporate Signpost' cards. Laura asked me to think about getting guidance and to pick four cards from a pack which would depict the SWOT in relation to the issue at hand. It might sound a bit 'out there' for you analytical people but I can tell you that I was astonished and impressed by how accurate the interpretations of the cards were and how pertinent to the issue. What was really interesting to me was that Laura encouraged me to use my own interpretation of the images and I found many insights for myself.
Laura is methodical, considered and strategic. The addition of the cards to her work brings added insight, creativity and fun and helped me to engage with the business analytical process. I would highly recommend Laura and the Corporate Signpost cards to anyone in business needing a fresh approach and clarification of a business issue.”
Elaine Copeland, Health & Wellbeing Consultant
“I found Corporate Signpost a very insightful tool indeed. It really helped me to define the problem I was addressing and look at it from another perspective. It’s amazing how the visual stimulation the cards bring really prompt you to see the relationships between them, this helps you to understand the pathway to a successful conclusion to your questions. I gained clarity of thought allowing me to identify the underlying issues and see how they are affecting each other, in turn this allowed me to address the true aspects of my concern.”
Dominic Goodson, Managing Director, Goodson's Recruitment Ltd www.goodsonsrecruit.co.uk
“I just wanted to thank you for the insightful and fascinating session with Corporate Signpost on my online estate agency business today. It is uncanny how it pinpoints strengths and gives help with identifying weaknesses and signposts on how to strengthen these. Not sure how it works but quite sure that it does and will be recommending your business on using ancient principles with modern up-to-date technology.”
Sue Robins, Director, Grass Root Homes www.grassrootshomes.co.uk